


A Walk in the Woods

by pidgeonpostal



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blake Belladonna POV, Clover and Blake wingpersoning for one another, Clover got cursed and is a frog, F/F, Getting Together, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Rated for one swear (Qrow) and one kiss (Also Qrow), Ruby and Weiss are here but only briefly, Team RWBY being extremely nosy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29956122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pidgeonpostal/pseuds/pidgeonpostal
Summary: “Alright, just a little farther for today. Hup!”Blake froze. That wasn’t a familiar voice, but it sounded close, and oddly low to the ground. She turned in its direction. A bush twitched, then stilled, then twitched again. After a few more twitches, a large green toad appeared, dragging a branch the size of Blake’s forearm.“Hup! Ah, you’d better appreciate this, Fisticuffs.”That. That came from thetoad.[Blake runs into an enchanted forest, and then into a toad named Clover. Together they un-curse the rest of the team and try to wingperson for one another. Just some soft nonsense.]
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	A Walk in the Woods

“Follow her!”

“In there!? Are you kidding!?”

“That’s the Anima woods, she’s as good as gone in there. Nope, I’m out. Adam can come find her himself if he wants her that badly.”

Blake kept running, until she could no longer hear her pursuers, and then ran some more, just for good measure, directly into the enchanted forest she’d always been told never to enter. But anywhere was better than there. It had to be.

She finally stopped next to a small pond covered in lily pads, perfectly round green plants on perfectly blue water, and Blake knew better than to touch it. It was probably leagues deep and pulled you in, or it was the lair of some kind of monster that turned people into lily pads. She shuddered, and curled up next to a tree. It wasn’t safe to sleep here, she’d have to move soon, but just for a minute to catch her breath. She glanced down to look at her reflection, and the large ears on top of her head twitched. No good. If anyone saw her they’d immediately guess where she came from. She took a wide ribbon from her pocket and tied it around them. There. A good enough disguise for now.

“Alright, just a little farther for today. Hup!”

Blake froze. That wasn’t a familiar voice, but it sounded close, and oddly low to the ground. She turned in its direction. A bush twitched, then stilled, then twitched again. After a few more twitches, a large green toad appeared, dragging a branch the size of Blake’s forearm.

“Hup! Ah, you’d better appreciate this, Fisticuffs.”

That. That came from the _toad._ It didn’t look like a monster. It looked like a regular toad that happened to talk like a man. And if it were actually dangerous, she doubted it would look like a toad, much less take the time to drag a branch to someone named “Fisticuffs.” The branch was far bigger than the toad, and it looked like it was struggling. Blake spoke before she really thought about it. “Do you…need help?”

“Gah!” The toad leapt directly up, nearly into the tree branches above, before landing and turning to face her. “You…can hear me?”

It hadn’t been particularly quiet. “Yes?”

The toad made a sort of happy trilling noise. “That’s great! You can help me find someone to break my curse! I’d ask you to break it, but that wouldn’t be fair to either of us. No offense.”

“Uh, none taken? So, you’re cursed?” Blake had heard the stories of people getting lost in this forest and never coming back. Some even said the forest itself could infuse you with its magic if you stayed too long. If you even survived that long.

“Yup.” The toad abandoned the branch and hopped over to her, stopping a respectable distance away. “Name’s Clover. Captain Clover, actually, of Atlas. Usually I’m much better looking. Had a bad run-in with a witch, standard procedure curse, true love’s first kiss and all that. So, you help me get home, I help you with whatever it is you need, Miss, uh…?”

“Blake. It’s…nice to meet you, I guess.”

The toad—Clover—managed a smile, and folded his front legs under his body. “You too, Blake. So, what’s your story?”

Blake held her knees closer to her chest. “Nothing exciting. Just…got lost, I guess.”

Clover waddled closer and put up one of his legs as if to pat her leg before thinking better of it and settling back down. “Do you have somewhere to go back to?”

“I have family in Me—in Vale,” she lied. She couldn’t go home _now,_ and having family in Menagerie would absolutely give her away. “But that’s weeks away by boat, even if I could get out of this forest.”

“Well, you’re in luck. Literally. You know the legend that this forest gives you magic, right? I figured out what I got after a few days. Good things just tend to happen near me. It’s probably how I found you. So stick with me, and we’ll be on the right path out of here in no time.”

Blake frowned. “Then why haven’t you left?”

Clover did something with his front legs that looked like he might have been trying to shrug. “Where am I most likely to find someone who can talk to toads? Besides, it’s nice and damp, and most of the dangers in it are meant to trap people, not toads. I’m pretty safe here. I’m not sure toads can even survive an Atlas winter. But with your help, the trip’s much easier. We can travel to Atlas, explain everything, I can get my body back and book you a ticket on the first ship to Vale.”

Blake laughed a little. “You make it sound so easy.”

“I’ve had a lot of planning time,” Clover said simply. “Speaking of, want to help one more person on our way out?”

That…that _was_ what she was doing, wasn’t it? Helping. And Clover _seemed_ pretty genuine. “What do we have to do?”

“We need that branch I was dragging. I’ll introduce you to Fisticuffs.”

Blake picked up the branch and let Clover sit on her shoulder, and they started walking.

“So…is your true love in Atlas?” Blake asked.

“Probably. Never had one. But people in Atlas know who I am, maybe someone had a crush. Little to your left.”

Blake adjusted and walked left around the next tree. “What about you?”

“Hm?”

“I mean—” Blake hesitated. She didn’t actually _know_ Clover, maybe this was what he wanted. But she’d started asking, might as well finish. “Did _you_ love anyone? Do you want to?”

“Oh, definitely want to. Always figured I’d fall in love eventually. But…the job came first. And my coworkers are great, but I wouldn’t call it the kind of love that involves kissing. And I think they’d agree.”

Blake smiled again. It was honestly easier around Clover than it had been in years. “So, we’re just going to walk into Atlas and put up a sign? ‘If you wanted to kiss Clover, now’s your chance?’”

“You say that like it wouldn’t work. I was _very_ charming. And Atlas is a big city. There has to be _someone.”_

“Well, yeah, but it doesn’t really sound like you care if _you_ like them, just if they like you.” Blake shuddered. “That’s…not really a good place to start from. Trust me.”

There was a soft pat on her shoulder. “Hey. It’s gonna be okay. We’re getting you home, I promise. You and Fisticuffs. Here she is now.”

Blake stepped into a small clearing between the trees, where light managed to pierce the canopy. In the center of it was what Blake could only describe as a tree sculpture of a girl in motion, leaping forward and drawing one shoulder back to throw a punch, only that arm was missing just above the elbow.

Clover hopped down to sit by the sculpture’s feet. “Blake, meet Fisticuffs. Fisticuffs, Blake.”

“Did you…make her?” It didn’t seem possible. If Clover could barely drag one branch, there was no way he could build a whole sculpture. Blake walked closer to get a better look. Nothing on it was carved. In fact, the facial features seemed to have been grown into shape, her mouth open in a furious shout. Her hair was a mess of leaves and vines that were turning gold in the sunlight.

“Oh no, not me. I think she’s cursed as well. Didn’t see it myself, but there’s a berry bush over there that reeks of magic. Don’t eat them, by the way. I think even _touching_ one might have done this. But you don’t seem like the type to just go around touching things. Fisticuffs here, though, I don’t know if she’s afraid of anything. Looks like she was fighting something when the curse took hold. Probably what took off her arm, too. See that branch we brought? Pretty arm-looking, right?”

Blake held it up and yes, it did look about right. The broken off end had a bit of a lump that could have been an elbow, and it tapered down at about the right rate, and split into five more-or-less finger-sized twigs at the end that entwined to look almost like a fist.

“Not sure if it will do anything, but figure at least she’ll have it if someone else comes by. Think you can see if it’s a fit?”

Blake walked up to the right shoulder of, uh, “Fisticuffs,” and held the branch out. There wasn’t a clear way to connect the two, but were some smaller growths that could maybe work, if she had some rope. _Or maybe a ribbon,_ she thought. Well, Clover wasn’t really in a position to be picky. And if it might help…

She pulled the ribbon from her hair and heard a soft “oh” from Clover as she quickly used it to tie the branch on. It fit rather well, actually. The wood didn’t match up, but the shape was right. It made Fisticuff’s punch look even more dynamic.

“You’re a faunus,” Clover said in a very careful tone. Blake turned her head to try and get a good look at him. He didn’t look angry, though, just thoughtful. “Huh. Still doesn’t explain why you can hear me, the other faunus who’ve come by haven’t been able to. Have you been able to do any other magic before? Maybe—move, move, _move!”_

Clover’s tone shifted so suddenly to an _order_ that Blake reflexively dove towards cover at the edge of the clearing, and just in time.

There was a shout behind her, and then a sound like a thunderclap followed by a rush of wind that sent leaves and pebbles and splinters of wood scattering past Blake, battering her back and shoulders. When it subsided, she dared to look back, and gasped.

Fisticuffs was awake.

Her hair really was gold, bright enough in the sunlight that it looked for a moment like it was on fire, and then Blake realized it _was,_ she was literally _on fire,_ and it looked like she’d broken a tree in half with one punch. But then she turned to look at Blake and her eyes were furious and _red,_ and Blake froze in terror.

And then Fisticuffs blinked, and her eyes were soft purple. “Oh. Hi.” Her hair put itself out and bounced gently against her back as it fell. “Where’d the shade go?”

Blake just stared. “The…shade?”

Fisticuffs looked around. “It’s gone. Did you do that?”

“No, we just put your arm back, and—” Blake’s eyes locked onto Fisticuffs’ right arm. From the elbow down her arm was black and yellow metal. Did they find the wrong branch? How—

“Oh hey, thanks!” Fisticuffs said brightly, flexing the fingers of her metal arm. “Thought I’d lost that for good out here. How’d you find it?”

“Clover found—Clover?” Where was Clover? Blakes eyes darted around the clearing.

 _“Ow,”_ wheezed something in the debris to her left.

“What was that?” Fisticuffs asked, getting into a fighting stance.

Blake stood up and ran toward the noise. “It’s just Clover, he’s—ah, here.” She moved a full branch out of the way to find Clover underneath it, unhappy but whole. She scooped him up in her hands and put him back on her shoulder.

“Thanks,” Clover said.

Fisticuffs looked from Clover to Blake and back again. “That’s a toad.”

“His name’s Clover, he’s cursed,” Blake explained.

“How do you know that?” Fisticuffs crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow.

“He told me.”

“He talks?” Yang got _very_ close until she was nearly touching Clover, as if closer inspection would reveal some secret. It also put her a hair’s breadth from Blake’s face. Her hair really did seem to glow, and there was a tension to the air around her, like the moment before lightning struck.

“Like I said, you’re the only one who can hear me,” Clover said, tapping Blake’s shoulder. Fisticuffs frowned.

“Did he say something?”

Her eyes were really, really purple. Like lilacs. “Um.”

Fisticuffs blinked and seemed to realize how close she was. “Oh! Uh, ha, sorry.” In a flash she was standing an arm’s length away, smiling sheepishly. “So uh, what’s your name?”

“Oh, it’s Blake.”

“Yang,” Fisticuffs nodded. “Nice to meet you. Really. Seems like I owe you one.”

Blake waved her hand in front of her. “Uh, don’t mention it? You were on our way out, anyway.”

“Out? Do you have a map or something?”

Blake shook her head and explained Clover’s situation. “So really, he’s the one who knows how to get anywhere.”

“Could he find a field of poppies?”

“I could. But you don’t want to go there,” Clover said. When Blake repeated it, Yang shook her head.

“No, see, I _do_ want to go there. My sister got stuck trying to rescue someone. I was trying to find help when I was attacked and…turned into a tree, I guess.”

“What attacked you?” Blake asked.

Yang shuddered. “A shadow. Like a ghost, almost. It had this white mask with red marks, and one yellow eye.”

“That’s a geist,” Clover said while Blake translated. “We should be careful if it’s still out here. It likes to possess things, people if it can find them, big animals if not. But they’re not keen on things that don’t move. That tree curse might have saved your life.”

“So how do we beat it?”

Clover made a low burbling sound a little like a laugh. “I like her,” he said to Blake, and she laughed, too. Yang was…well, “Fisticuffs” seemed to have been an apt name. “If you can get the jump on it, go for the mask. Shatter the mask, shatter the geist.”

Yang grinned when Blake relayed the information, and cracked the knuckles on her left arm. “Got it. So, which way to the poppy field?”

Clover led the way, directing Blake through the brush with a kind of casual ease that would have been unnerving if he hadn’t already managed to find Yang without any issues. And, apparently, her missing arm. Maybe he really _was_ lucky. Although…

“So, uh…” _Was your arm always metal or did we put it back wrong?_ “How’s the arm?” Blake tried instead.

“Huh? Oh.” Yang looked down at her right arm, where Blake’s ribbon was tied just above where it attached. “It’s fine. I had to detach it when the geist grabbed me. Here, if you need the ribbon back—”

Always metal then, that’s good. Wait, what? “No no! It’s fine, you can keep it. It looks, nice?”

“Smooth,” Clover said quietly.

Blake popped her shoulder under Clover to jostle him. Clover made an indignant croaking noise.

“Thanks,” Yang said, and smiled. “How’d you end up in here, anyway?”

Blake shrugged and drew her arms around herself. “Kind of ran away into it.”

“Oh.” Yang looked up at Blake’s ears and back down. _“Oh.”_

Great. And now it was just going to be all about this. Why did you join up with them then? Why did you follow _him?_ Why didn’t you—

“Well, hey, if you’re looking for a place to go, you could hang with my sister and I for a little bit? We’re looking for our uncle but once we’ve found him, we’ll be heading back to Patch. It’s a nice place, a little out of the way, but nice.”

Blake just stared. That wasn’t…what she had been expecting. “I…thanks. Really. But, I sort of promised Clover I’d get him to Atlas.”

Yang walked a bit closer. “Patch is sort of on the way to Atlas, you could travel with us for a bit?”

It _would_ probably be safer to travel in a group. And it would mean spending more time with Yang, which definitely seemed like a positive right now. Because Yang could probably beat up anything that tried to attack them, of course. No other reason. “That would be great, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all! And Ruby loves meeting new people, and if we find Uncle Qrow…well he likes Ruby, and Ruby will like you, so it’s fine!”

“Sounds like a charmer,” Clover said dryly. Blake didn’t repeat it. 

The trees abruptly ended, and a beautiful field of red flowers opened up in front of them. Poppies, like Yang had said, huge red petals that were all perfectly in bloom. But there was a pressure in the air, a sense of it being _wrong_ that made Blake back away.

“What’s wrong with them?”

“If you touch them, you fall asleep,” Yang said coldly. “Like Ruby, over there.”

Blake looked a bit farther in. Nearly buried amongst the petals she could make out a red skirt, and then just beyond, another in white.

“How do we get them out?” Blake asked, looking to Clover, then Yang. Both looked down at the poppies and frowned.

“Not sure,” Clover said. “Maybe we—”

Something appeared behind Yang. Something dark, with one yellow eye.

Without thinking Blake shoved Yang to the side, and then something shoved _her,_ and she saw herself, frozen in terror, as the geist slashed through her illusory copy.

“Thanks for the save!” Yang said from beside her, winked, and rushed it.

Blake sat in the grass, stunned. What was that? Did she…do magic? Did she have magic now? How did—

“Blake,” Clover said in a clear, commanding voice. “She’s got its attention. We can get the mask. Ready?”

The geist’s right arm extended into a wicked black blade and swung in a wide arc. Yang _laughed_ as she flipped away from it, her hair burning gold. _Fearless._ Blake couldn’t do fearless. But she could do _this._ “Ready.”

Clover did something, a kind of click in his throat. It felt like something in the air sparkled, just a little. “Good luck.”

Blake dove around Yang, around the swinging arms of the geist, darting closer and closer to the head. For a moment, it didn’t seem to notice her, entirely focused on Yang. Then the one yellow eye swiveled around, and the blade arm sailed towards her.

Blake thought of that _push,_ and a copy appeared in her place, the force of its creation propelling her up towards the geist’s face. It reeled backwards, but not quite far enough, and Blake got a hand on the edge of that white mask and _pulled._

“Yang!” she shouted, and threw it towards her.

Yang grinned, red eyes shining, and pulled back her fist.

There was a flash of light as she connected, the sound like a thunderclap and the shattering of glass. Wind knocked Blake away from the impact and _through_ the geist, but she hit something within it and bounced off to the side. After a day of being tossed around she was beginning to get the idea, though, and landed unsteadily on her feet.

The geist toppled and shrank as wisps of black shadow faded away, leaving something much smaller behind. A person-shaped something, sprawled on the ground and breathing slowly, wearing rumpled formal attire and a red cape and some sort of sheared off greatsword tied to the small of their back. Their hair was black with streaks of grey and stuck up at odd angles. They looked up. Their eyes were red, like Yang’s were sometimes.

“Oh, _wow,”_ Clover said.

“Uncle Qrow!” Yang shouted, and ran towards him.

The man on the ground groaned and turned over. “Firecracker?” He sounded gravelly, like he was sick or something.

 _“Wow,”_ Clover repeated.

Yang hauled her uncle into a sitting position for a hug. “We thought we’d lost you, Uncle Qrow.”

“Who’s we?” Qrow narrowed his eyes at Blake.

Yang turned to gesture broadly at Blake. “Blake, this is Uncle Qrow, the one I told you about. Uncle Qrow, Blake. She got that geist out of you. ”

“More of a group effort, really,” Blake mumbled.

Qrow nodded and a bit of the suspicion drained from his expression. “Appreciate it. Nice to meet you, and your…toad?”

“Oh. He’s a person, he’s just cursed right now. This is Clo—”

“Blake, wait!”

“What?”

“Use my full title. ‘Captain Clover Ebi of Atlas.’” Clover sounded…flustered?

“Why?”

“It’s more impressive!”

Ah. Blake understood now. Payback time. “Why does that matter right now?” she asked as blandly as possible.

“Blake, this is the most beautiful man I have ever seen, I am _trying_ to put my best toad leg forward, my title is all I’ve got right now.”

Qrow frowned, looking between Blake and Clover. “Why should _what_ matter?”

Blake shrugged. “He wants to impress you for some reason.”

_“Blake!”_

Yang started laughing and tried to hide it behind her hand. Blake’s lip twitched, but she managed to keep a straight face.

Qrow shrugged. “You helped Yang out, you’re good in my book, kid. What’s your name?”

Clover made a loud trilling sound that sounded a bit like a scream. “Blake, _please.”_

She supposed he’d suffered enough. “His name is Captain Clover Ebi of Atlas.”

 _“Thank you._ Also tell him I’m in my thirties.”

Blake rolled her eyes. “He also wants you to know he’s not a kid.”

Qrow scoffed. “Sure, sure. So, what kinda curse? We gotta find a princess to kiss you?”

Clover screamed again.

“I don’t think he’s interested in princesses,” Yang said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Prince, princess, other royal, whatever. I know some Schnees, we could see if any of them like toads. I could even put a good word in with Ice Queen if you want.”

“Don’t you two fight, like, _every_ time you see each other?” Yang asked skeptically.

Qrow chuckled. “Yeah. What’s your point?”

Clover shuddered on Blake’s shoulder. “Gods above, no. Winter would _kill_ me if I asked her. It doesn’t have to be a _royal,_ we just have to like each other enough.”

“I thought you needed ‘true love’s first kiss?’” Blake raised an eyebrow.

Qrow snorted. “Good luck finding that, kid.”

“I am _thirty-four—”_

“Clover says he’s old. Like, _really_ old,” Blake said.

“Almost as old as you, huh?” Yang elbowed her uncle in the side and winked at Clover.

“Blake, Yang is my favorite,” Clover declared.

“I know.” Blake smiled. “Mine, too.”

“Your what?” Yang asked.

“M-my parents,” Blake lied. “Are probably about his age. Thirty-something.”

Qrow looked thoughtful, and then turned back to his niece. “So. I can’t imagine the pipsqueak let you come in after me alone. Where is she?”

The smile dropped off Yang’s face. “Uh, okay so—”

_“Yang. Where is Ruby.”_

“…in the poppy field?”

Qrow squinted across the poppy field. “Huh. Alright.”

He pulled the sheared-off greatsword from his back, and there was a click and the whirr of some unseen mechanism, and it unfolded longer and longer, until Qrow held a scythe in his hands. He spun it once with a bit more flair than necessary, and began cutting down poppies in a wide swath towards Ruby.

“That…works?” Blake figured it would need more magic than that.

Yang shrugged. “He’s still standing, so, maybe? Hey Clover, why does this work?”

Clover was doing that trilling scream again, only very quietly.

“Is that what you do when you like someone?” Yang asked.

“I think so,” Blake replied. “Think he has a chance?”

Yang shrugged. “Uncle Qrow’s pretty cool, and I think he likes guys, so, sure. Wait, Clover’s cool, right?”

“Absolutely!” Clover shouted.

“He’s helped me so far,” Blake said, ignoring him. Half a field away, the slicing of Qrow’s scythe kept steady time. “Not sure if that counts as cool.”

“This is about that time I sassed you, isn’t it.”

Yang grinned. “Yeah, maybe not cool. Good guy, though. Alright, I’m in.”

“You coming?” Qrow shouted from the field. His scythe had stopped for a moment. “They should wake up pretty quick once they’re outta here. Could use some help carrying them, looks like there’s another—oh hey, this is definitely another Schnee. Too young to be Clover’s true love, but Winter’ll be happy to see her. We can get that good word in for you after all.”

“Lucky me,” Clover said morosely.

“I have a plan,” Yang announced. “Come on, we gotta help for it to work.” She ran into the poppies after her uncle.

Clover croaked. “Blake if this works I will be the best wingman I possibly can for you and Yang, I swear it.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Blake muttered, and followed after Yang while she explained her plan.

It was a very bad plan. But Yang was confident and Clover wanted to do it anyway, so while Qrow picked up Ruby, Yang went to grab under the other girl’s shoulders and Blake went to grab her legs, and as soon as Qrow was within toad-jumping distance, Blake deliberately tripped and fell.

“Sorry! Pulled too fast!” Yang shouted quickly, and gently lowered the girl-in-white’s still-sleeping body to the ground to go “help” Blake up.

“Mission success!” Clover shouted, from Qrow’s shoulder.

“Huh? Oh, hey Clover,” said Qrow, turning to look at him.

“Why don’t you hang onto him for a bit?” Blake said, trying to be as convincing as possible while being as casual as possible. “He’s uh, safer with you, while Yang and I carry…whoever this is.”

“Weiss, probably.” Qrow shrugged, careful not to jostle Ruby or Clover.

“Yup! We’ll carry Weiss, you two go on ahead!” Yang said, smiling.

Qrow narrowed his eyes. “What are you planning.”

“Nothing! No plans! Nope.” An even bigger smile. Blake tried not to laugh. Her uncle clearly knew her too well.

But then Qrow looked between the two of them and smirked. “Alright, I’ll see myself out. Don’t take too long, though. You and me, then, Cloves. One scream for yes, two screams for no, sound good?”

Clover trilled once, and that was all Blake heard before they were out of earshot.

Yang switched to carrying Weiss under one arm, and gestured with her head for Blake to take the other. “He’s even got a nickname for him already! This is gonna be easy.”

Blake nodded and moved to help “What did he mean, ‘see himself out?’ It’s not like he’s going anywhere we’re not.”

“Nothing! Nothing, that’s just how he talks.” Yang was talking _really_ fast again. “Didn’t mean anything, just weird Uncle Qrow stuff, you know.”

Up ahead, Qrow cackled.

“So uh, those were some cool moves!” Yang said quickly. “Are you applying to Beacon?”

“I…hadn’t thought about it?” It hadn’t really been an option before. Her? At an adventuring academy?

“You totally should! We could go together!”

Why not? Why _shouldn’t_ she? She could fight monsters, she could _help,_ or at least try. “Yeah, yeah I think I’d—”

The girl they were carrying—Weiss?—suddenly jerked, held up a hand, and a burst of icy wind flung Yang and Blake from her sides.

“Who are _you_ two?” she demanded, scowling between them.

“Hey! A ‘thank you’ would be nice!” Yang shouted back. “We just saved you!”

Weiss scoffed, and held out her hand. The wind coalesced around her and an icy white rapier solidified out of the air in her grip. “In this forest? Unlikely.”

“Hey, ice princess!”

“Hi Weiss!”

The three of them looked over. Qrow had turned around, hands in his pockets, and Ruby was awake and standing next to him, yawning but waving frantically. “You’re Weiss, right? We found you in the poppy field and un-cursed you!”

The rapier lowered just a fraction. “Poppies? What—” she turned to look back at the field. “I was…I was on my way to Vale and—oh. Well.”

Qrow rolled his eyes. “Apparently we’re just collecting Atlesians today, so if you want we can drop you off there with Clover.”

“Clover?” Weiss frowned, and then stared. “Clover _Ebi?”_

“Finally!” Clover shouted from Qrow’s shoulder.

“He’s been missing for _a year._ You found him?”

“Yup,” Qrow said, tilting his head to acknowledge the toad on his shoulder. “That’s him.”

Weiss’ jaw dropped. “A _toad._ The _captain_ of _General Ironwood’s personal guard_ is…a toad.”

“Yup,” Yang said. “Blake can understand him, but sometimes he just screams, right Blake?”

“Let Weiss say more nice things!” Clover pleaded.

Weiss shook her head. “That’s fine, he should go back, but I won’t. I’m going to Vale and enrolling at Beacon.”

“Us too!” Yang shouted. Her eyes flicked back to Blake, asking.

Blake gave a shaky smile. “Yeah, us too.”

Yang’s answering smile was _blinding._

“Yay!” In a flash, Ruby was standing in front of them. “I’m applying early on recommendations, we’ll be classmates!”

“Wait,” Weiss narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “That toad could be anyone who knew Clover was missing. How do you know it’s really Clover?”

Blake shrugged. “You seem to know the most about him. Ask him a question.”

“I never worked with him. Winter would know, though.”

“They like each other?” Qrow raised an eyebrow. “Apparently we have to find Clover’s ‘true love.’”

“Definitely not Winter,” Clover said glumly.

“He says she’s…not his type,” Blake tried.

“I am quite certain Clover is not _Winter’s,_ either,” Weiss said, smirking.

‘“But she might know who is, right?” Ruby said, looking up at Clover.

Yang leaned over to her sister and started whispering rapidly in her ear. “Oh!” Ruby said, and then started beaming. _“Or,_ maybe he needs to meet someone new!”

“What are you—” Weiss started, before Ruby leaned over and whispered in _her_ ear.

“Why _him?”_ Weiss hissed back. “He’s so—”

“Uncle Qrow is the _greatest!_ Of course we’re gonna help!”

Weiss’ jaw dropped. “That’s _Qrow Branwen?_ The jerk who always fights with—”

“What are you whispering about?” Qrow walked closer to them and narrowed his eyes.

“Nothing!” Ruby and Yang shouted at the same time.

Qrow sighed. He passed Clover back to Blake before turning to face Yang and Ruby. “I know what you’re doing, you two. Yang, I’m assuming this is your fault. Look, I appreciate it, I do. But Clover’s probably got some squeeze back in Atlas—”

“I don’t!”

“He doesn’t!” Blake repeated.

“Who even says _squeeze_ for that anymore?” Weiss demanded.

“It was Clover’s idea!” Yang said, pointing at Clover.

Qrow looked at Clover, then back at his nieces, then back at Clover, and held out a hand. “…Alright. You four back to…whatever you were doing. Clover, same rules. We gotta talk.”

“Wish me luck, Blake!” Clover said, and hopped to Qrow’s hand. Qrow walked them a good distance away, well out of earshot.

“What do you think they’re saying?” Ruby suddenly said from _very_ close to Blake’s left ear.

“Can you hear Clover from here?” Yang said, equally close on the other side.

Weiss sighed as she walked up to the three of them. “Not with both of you talking, clearly. Here,” she said, and a small white glyph appeared in her palm. A gentle wind picked up from the direction of Qrow and Clover, and their voices came with it.

“…really your idea?” Qrow was asking.

Clover trilled once.

“One scream means yes,” Blake explained.

“Why? Just because I’m around?” Qrow continued.

Two trills.

“…this isn’t working, is it.”

One trill. Then, Clover started talking. “You’re—gods, you can’t hear me but you’re gorgeous, and your nieces love you, and I’m lucky and I just have this _feeling_ that this could work—”

“He uh, he really likes your uncle,” Blake said, and she could feel her cheeks burning. “This seems pretty personal.”

“We gotta help him,” Yang said. “Was there anything good? Maybe a pun? Maybe we could—”

Ruby jumped on Yang’s shoulders. “Clover really likes you!” She shouted, her hands cupped around her mouth.

“Ruby—” Blake warned.

Clover trilled again.

Qrow looked up and scowled at the kids. “Private conversation!” But when he turned back to Clover the wind was still carrying his voice. It was softer, now, more unsure. He brought Clover up to eye level. “Was that…a yes?”

One trill.

“…Fine.” Qrow took a deep breath, and one hand came up to scratch at the back of his head. “I mean, it’s worth a shot, right? To get you human again. If I’m a potential ‘true love’ or whatever. And if not, plan doesn’t change, we still take you to Atlas. So, you’re game?”

“Yes!” One _very loud_ trill.

“Alright.” Qrow looked dubiously at Clover one more time, and then, very gently, kissed Clover’s mouth.

There was a loud _pop,_ and Qrow staggered into a wide stance as a large human man appeared in his arms. He was wearing Atlas colors and absolutely no sleeves, and looked about as surprised as Qrow.

“Huh. It really was Clover,” Weiss said.

Clover looked down at his own body and whooped, and the noise was enough to startle Qrow into dropping him.

“Shit!” Qrow shouted. “I mean, uh, sorry.”

“Ow.” Clover said from the forest floor, but then laughed. “I guess…I’ve really _fallen_ for you.”

Yang and Ruby cheered. Blake tried to stifle a laugh. Weiss groaned.

Clover got up and brushed the dirt off his jacket, before standing up to his full height and putting on a dazzling smile. “Hi, Qrow. I’m Clover. Wanna get out of here?”

Qrow blinked. “Uh.”

“Don’t worry, I speak Qrow,” Yang stage-whispered to Blake. “It’s going well.”

“Congrats!” Ruby shouted, throwing up her hands. “Now all we have to do is get out of here!…Anyone know which way that is?”

“I do,” Clover said brightly.

“You do?” Qrow looked at him incredulously.

Clover shrugged, and then winked at him. “I’m lucky. Got a good feeling about…” he stopped, licked his finger, held it up like he was testing the wind, then pointed. “That way.”

Ruby turned on a heel and started in that direction.

“Actually,” Clover jogged up to her. “If you don’t mind, Ruby, Qrow and I can lead? The forest is usually pretty dense, so while we’re walking, how about we pair off so there’s always someone nearby if something happens? I’ll walk with Qrow—”

“I’ll walk with Blake!” Yang shouted.

Clover nodded. “Great. Ruby, could you and Weiss pair off, then?” He looked back at Blake and winked.

“Huh?” Ruby looked at Clover, then at Qrow, then at Yang and Blake. “Ooooooh. Yes!”

“Why not just a single file—”

“Come on, Weiss!” Ruby shouted before Weiss could finish, then linked arms with her and leaned in to whisper excitedly again.

Yang turned to Blake and held out her hand. “Shall we?”

Blake’s stomach flipped.

They trailed behind Qrow and Clover as they made their way through the forest, taking the long way around anything Clover “had a bad feeling” about and keeping within line of sight, but far enough apart that they could talk without being overheard.

Yang stretched up with her other hand and scratched the back of her head. “Clover must really be lucky, to find his true love that quickly.”

“It didn’t have to be a true love,” Blake shrugged. “He said they just have to…like each other.”

“Think it’ll work out?” Yang turned to look at her.

“I mean, they just met,” Blake shrugged and hunched her shoulders a bit. “They don’t really know each other. Clover just said he ‘had a feeling.’”

“It’s gotta be worth a shot, right? I mean, what else are you supposed to go on?”

“It’s just,” Blake sighed. “You don’t really know who people are, right away.”

“Oh. Yeah. I mean—yeah. Makes sense.” Yang looked up and watched Qrow and Clover up ahead. For a moment, her grip on Blake’s hand loosened.

Oh. _Oh._ Suddenly, Blake remembered the feeling she had fighting the geist. Not fearless, but not running away. Brave, maybe. She could do brave. She squeezed Yang’s hand. “It’s…a good start, though? They just need to spend more time together and…see if it works out.”

Up ahead, Clover said something that made Qrow cackle again. Yang didn’t seem to notice. She turned back to Blake with a soft smile. “Yeah. Guess so.”

**Author's Note:**

> \- Clover is an American Toad, and his screaming sounds [like this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkR3EBNvUl4) Toads scream! I found this out while researching for this fic and now I will not stop laughing about it. Also they do actually scream to attract mates which is very funny to me in context.  
> \- I am aware geists canonically can only possess nonorganics, and I do not care  
> \- I have not written the bees before so Blake POV was A Choice, there’s a lot of her backstory that only partially made it in here because ultimately I wanted to wrap up happily  
> \- Blake can understand Clover because Magic is Real and wants them to be happy  
> \- I continue to be [PidgeonPostal](https://pidgeonpostal.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, please come say hi!


End file.
